2016 - Top Five Novels

2016 has seen a wealth of amazing novels published by both debut and long established authors and I feel lucky to have started this blog in the midst of such greatness.  As such it has been tricky to narrow down the large number of fantastic books to a top five, but after much internal debate it has been finalised.  So, to see out 2016, The Very Pink Notebook is proud to cite these as its top picks for this year...

FIVE 

The Tea Planter's Wife by Dinah Jefferies

With wonderful writing and the most beautiful and fragrant imagery, although this is a gently told novel the plot is packed with punch and body and has stayed with me.

Full review

FOUR

Distress Signals by Catherine Ryan Howard

A gripping psychological thriller set in the muddy realms of maritime law.  Catherine Ryan Howard's fantastic novel will keep you on the edge of your seat... or life ring.

Full review

THREE

Another Love by Amanda Prowse

Chillingly real and poignant, Another Love is the story telling of Amanda Prowse at her best.  Looking at a women and her battle with alcohol and the consequences it has on everyone in her life, this is a heartfelt, moving and relatable novel.

Full review

TWO

A Suitable Lie by Michael Malone

This novel is just, brilliant.  Dark, domestic and brutal it will keep you turning the pages long into the night and make you rethink the way you think.

Full review

ONE

I Let You Go by Clare Mackintosh

Clare Mackintosh's debut novel, psychological thriller I Let You Go, take the number one spot for The Very Pink Notebooks top five novels of 2016.  Fantastically written, with superb dialogue and descriptions and a twist you will never see coming is what makes this book impossible to put down.

Full review

To say, as a reviewer, I am looking forward to 2017 is an understatement.

Happy New Year!

Guest Post : My Typical Writing Day by Catherine Ryan Howard author of Distress Signals

Distress Signals author Catherine Ryan Howard shares a tongue-in-cheek guest post with The Very Pink Notebook into her writing day...

 

 

MY TYPICAL WRITING DAY

A Guest Post by Catherine Ryan Howard

23:00(ish)    My writing day typically begins the night before, when I get notions about being super organised and doing all those 263 Things Successful People Do Before They Even Wake Up malarkey. I organise my desk, open my WIP on my computer and set the coffee machine to start brewing just in time to have my first cup of coffee at six o’clock the following morning. The smell, noise and promise of caffeine will get me out bed. No, it totally will.

Next day

06:00    Alarm goes off.

06:01    Turn off alarm. Fall back asleep.

07:15    Wake up again.

07:16    Fall back asleep.

08:45    Wake up for real. Ugh, I’ve slept in! AND wasted a bucket of coffee. No point rushing now, I suppose. Find phone. Quick check on Twitter before I get out of bed...

10:30    *buzzer goes* Crap. That’s the postman with the huge amount of superfluous stationery I ordered online a few days ago when I was procrastinating by shopping online. *mad scramble to put on Outside Clothes* Well, at least I’m up now.

10:35    Obligatory playing with stationery.

11:10    Okay, enough messing about. You’ve LOADS to do. Time to get down to work. But first, coffee.

11:25    Finally sit down at desk. But who starts work at twenty-five minutes pass the hour? Only a crazy person! I’ll start at noon. Until then, I’ll just do a quick round of email-Twitter-blog comments-Facebook-Instagram...

12:45    Well, that’s lunch. Practically. May as well watch a couple of Friends episodes while I’m eating.

14:00    Okay, seriously. SERIOUSLY. Work now. Open WIP. Where did I leave off yesterday? There? Are you sure? Better go back to the start, 30,000 words ago, and read it again from the beginning, just to be REALLY sure.

14:30    Hmm… Am I using that big word right? I’ll just quickly check the definition. And now, since I’m online, I may as well just check Twitter...

15:10    Tom Hiddleston is rumoured to be going out with WHO?!

15:15    Tom Hiddleston was in that movie? Really? I don’t remember him at all. Maybe there’s a clip on YouTube..

15:25    Ted Talks and more coffee.

15:45    Back to reading what I wrote so far.

17:45    Finish reading what I wrote so far. Discover I’d left off exactly where I thought I did. There really was no reason to go back and read the whole thing... Now it’s almost Friends re-run o’clock (again), and then I’ve to make dinner, and then Master Chef will be on so... Oh well. Tomorrow’s another day.

23:00(ish)    Tomorrow I’m going to get up early, ignore social media and write 10,000 words. Yes I am yes I am yes I am. Organise my desk, open the Word document that my current WIP is in on my computer and set the coffee machine to start brewing just in time to have my first cup of coffee at six o’clock...

 

 

I think a lot of aspiring writers will be thrilled to read they are not alone in procrastinating!  Also, I must invest in a coffee maker I can programme to start itself in the mornings!  Thank you Catherine for guest posting with The Very Pink Notebook and congratulations on a fantastic novel. 

 

 

 

ABOUT DISTRESS SIGNALS:

 

Standalone crime/thriller

 

Published May 5 by Corvus/Atlantic in Ireland and the UK, June 2 in Australia and New Zealand. Details of North American publication later in 2016 coming soon.

 

Did she leave, or was she taken?

 

The day Adam Dunne's girlfriend, Sarah, fails to return from a Barcelona business trip, his perfect life begins to fall apart. Days later, the arrival of her passport and a note that reads 'I'm sorry - S' sets off real alarm bells. He vows to do whatever it takes to find her.

 

Adam is puzzled when he connects Sarah to a cruise ship called the Celebrate - and to a woman, Estelle, who disappeared from the same ship in eerily similar circumstances almost exactly a year before. To get the answers, Adam must confront some difficult truths about his relationship with Sarah. He must do things of which he never thought himself capable. And he must try to outwit a predator who seems to have found the perfect hunting ground...

 

Advance praise:

 

“Pacey, suspenseful and intriguing … [A] top class, page turning read. Catherine Ryan Howard is an astonishing new voice in thriller writing.” — Liz Nugent, author of 2014 IBA Crime Novel of the Year Unravelling Oliver

 

“An exhilarating debut thriller from a hugely talented author. Distress Signals is fast-paced, twisty and an absolute joy to read.” — Mark Edwards, #1 bestselling author of The Magpies and Follow You Home

 

Read a preview of the first three chapters here:

 

https://catherineryanhoward.com/access-your-exclusive-preview/

 

Amazon.co.uk link:

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Distress-Signals-Incredibly-Gripping-Psychological/dp/1782398384

 

ABOUT CATHERINE:

 

Catherine Ryan Howard was born in Cork, Ireland, in 1982. Prior to writing full-time, Catherine worked as a campsite courier in France and a front desk agent in Walt Disney World, Florida, and most recently was a social media marketer for a major publisher. She is currently studying for a BA in English at Trinity College Dublin.

 

http://www.DistressSignalsBook.com

 

http://www.CatherineRyanHoward.com

 

Twitter: @cathryanhoward

Instagram: @cathryanhoward

Facebook: facebook.com/catherineryanhoward

 

 

 

 

Review : Distress Signals by Catherine Ryan Howard

Published by : Atlantic Books / Corvus

5 May 2016

Copy : Received from publisher for honest review

 

DID SHE LEAVE OR WAS SHE TAKEN?

 

The Blurb

 

The day Adam Dunne's girlfriend, Sarah, fails to return from a Barcelona business trip, his perfect life begins to fall apart.  Days later, the arrival of her passport and a note that reads 'I'm sorry - S' sets off real alarm bells.  He vows to do whatever it takes to find her.

 

Adam is puzzled when he connects Sarah to a cruise ship called the Celebrate - and to a women, Estelle, who disappeared from the same ship in eerily similar circumstances almost exactly a year before.  To get the answers, Adam must confront some difficult truths about his relationship with Sarah.  He must do things of which he never thought capable.  And he must try to outwit a predator who seems to have found the perfect hunting ground...

 

The Very Pink Notebook Review

 

Catherine Ryan Howard has produced a brilliant, clever and gripping psychological thriller in Distress Signals with a high body count, wealth of unreliable characters and clever use of maritime law to muddy the investigative process to such a level I am pretty sure I will never be boarding a cruise ship in my lifetime. 

 

Hooked from the very first page, where our narrator, Adam, is plunged into the dark depths of the sea I found myself needing to continue to read and discover.  I loved the way this novel was written, mostly in the first person voice of Adam, the long term boyfriend of the missing Sarah but punctuated with the third person narrative, almost as a completely separate story, of both Corrine and Romain.  I knew the three would eventually come together but until they did I could only guess as to how.  All three viewpoints were intriguing and at times heart-wrenching - particularly those of Romain and Corrine.

 

Although there are quite a lot of characters within the story it never got confusing, and they all had a hint of the unreliable in them so I was never quite sure who I should be trusting - is Rose really 'telling all' given she is Sarah's best friend and not Adam's, or does Adam's best friend Moorsey have an ulterior motive given he has recently started dating Rose and everyone says how alike she is to Sarah?  Then of course there is the mysterious Ethan and the staff at the cruise company who are clearly lying... let's just say my detective skills were sent in all sorts of directions and I didn't work out what the end result was going to be which made the finale all the better.

 

Beautifully paced and with a fascinating suggestion of the darker underworld of the cruise industry, Distress Signals is a compelling read that not only looks at the 'who done it' but also the 'why'.

 

A must read and therefore I give it ...

 

Tomorrow - Distress Signals author Catherine Ryan Howard shares a guest post with The Very Pink Notebook.